MALIBU, Calif. – Halle Bowe is packing her bags at her Pepperdine University dorm to prepare to return to her home in the Bahamas. The university notified students by email that they must be off campus by Sunday. Their goal is to prevent the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

“I just was in disbelief. I didn’t want to believe it was real. But then when I got it and read through it, I just felt really anxious, because to move out by Sunday is a lot to ask. I was just overwhelmed,” Bowe said.

There are currently zero confirmed coronavirus cases on campus, and while Bowe understands the need to protect the student body, she doesn’t agree with their approach. She says, students need more support and resources for such a move.

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“Somehow now I have to think of a way to store and carry all of my items not only across the country, but also out of the country which is a lot to handle. And seeing that my parents don’t live in the U.S., I now independently have to think of a ways for storage, and packing up everything myself,” she said.

 

 

 

Bowe is being supported by students like Briana Willis, who is a Resident Advisor with family in the area. Willis says, it is one thing to leave campus when you have family nearby, it is another when you live far away.

“I don’t know what it’s like to have to find a storage unit so quickly or boxes or anything like that because I just throw everything into my car and just go home,” Willis said.

Bowe says preparing to leave so quickly is also distracting to her studies. She has exams approaching, and no family living nearby to help her with her move.

“Almost everybody moved in here with their parents or family members and had assistance. So it really is a lot to ask an individual student to pack up everything and be out of here by Sunday.”

Starting on Wednesday, all classes will be online until the end of the semester.